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Do you have any stats on how many fouls Athletic concede relative to other teams?

I'm not sure how effectively Valverde can achieve a high press with the current team. It's old and needs a major shakeup. I believe 14/15 pressing was a one-time kick in the ass kind of incident, and was helped by Suarez and Rakitic (new players) anyway. Need more youth and hunger in the team.

FYI, would never go for Sampaoli. Currently the only thing you can reliably get from his teams is to choke of exhaustion in the second half of the season.

Looking back at this, I think I agree with what I said at the beginning. The personnel is just not there for a high press. Barca got the opposite this season.